5 Things You Need to Know About Reviewing Commercial Contracts

1Reviewing a contract can be a simple or complex legal task. The size of the job will depend on the nature of the transaction and the quality of the document that needs to be reviewed. It’s important to consider these factors, which will affect the cost and timeframe for a lawyer to review your contract.

2There are two main ways in which a lawyer can review a contract. The first is to review the document and then have a verbal consultation with the client. The second is to provide a written advice. A written advice is generally more expensive, as it takes longer to prepare and involves more risk for the lawyer. Written advice is not always necessary — particularly for shorter, lower-value contracts.

3When asking a lawyer to review a contract, it’s important to be clear about your expectations and the outcome you are seeking from the review. For example, if you run a small business and have been given a contract by a large organisation, you may not be in a strong position to negotiate the terms of the contract. In these situations, the main purpose of a legal review is to help you understand your rights and obligations under the contract — and, in some cases, avoid a bad deal before it’s too late.

4When reviewing a contract, a pragmatic lawyer will focus on the important terms. For many contracts, you won’t need to worry about the boilerplate clauses (general provisions that appear in most contracts). Focus on the operative clauses that set out the contractual rights and obligations of the parties to the transaction or relationship.

5It’s important to work with a lawyer who is familiar with the type of contract you need reviewed. A specialist lawyer will have more experience identifying the key issues that may arise and will be able to review your contract more efficiently.